Thursday we drove up to Tauranga on the Bay of Plenty for a Zone Conference. It was a memorable drive on Hwy 36 through the Mangapouri Scenic Reserve and the Mangorewa Kaharoa Gorge.
On Sunday we made a visit to Robbie and Wiki, short for Wikitoria. They live in the Western Heights area in a lane with three homes belonging to Robbie's family, including his mother Betty, who told us to go ahead and wake Robbie up. We had a delightful visit. They are smart and spiritual and have been through many trying experiences.
Wiki wears the Moko Kauae, the women's chin tattoo, which traditionally signifies a woman's standing in the community, her leadership and her family. Wiki speaks Maori although Robbie does not, because when he was attending school, it was forbidden by the government and students were punished for doing so. The government eventually relented and not only allows Maori to be spoken again but encourages and promotes it. Maori is the only language spoken in the living Maori villages, so some residents of Rotorua do not speak English.
Although retired, Robbie and Wiki earn money by making the Purini Mamaoa, steamed puddings served at the Hangi, the traditional Maori meal. Robbie says they sell every pudding to a man who cooks the hangi in underground pits. We know this because Elder Rooks was asking about the giant mixer on the counter behind Robbie. He told me his recipe was a secret.
Elder Rooks thought we should finally try one of the Award Winning Quality Meat Pies, so we went inside the shop next to Wendy's Fish and Chips.
There was quite a lineup of people buying pies, tarts and other desserts, so it must be good, right?
We bought steak and cheese meat pies. I snagged a coconut cream tart which I carried home in one palm.
These are very filling, and definitely Better Quality than the ones you buy in the supermarket. But I wouldn't want to make a steady diet of them.
In the afternoon I made chocolate chip oatmeal cookies and we took them to a family in Lynmore to invite them to the two-ward emergency preparedness workshop on Saturday. Lynmore is a nicer suburb than others near our home, and the homes are single-family per address, not three to seven residences along a narrow lane you sometimes have to back out of at your peril.
The Thursday morning drive to Tauranga had unexpected hazards. This photo (actually taken on our way back to Rotorua) shows a one lane bridge ahead and if you have to Give Way (Yield) or not. (We didn't even see it coming in the other direction.) Coming from Rotorua we were supposed to give way, but since we had been driving the posted speed limit of 80 km (50 mph) downhill and around that sharp right corner, and had no idea what the signs meant, we were glad there was not more traffic.
I spent some of our meeting time locating it on Google Maps and marked the coordinates so we could be prepared coming back.
Driving along the Pyes Pa road overlooking Tauranga, which is on the coast of the Bay of Plenty and noted for its beauty. Bro. Connelly tells me that many residents of Auckland (pronounced "Oakland,") have recently moved to Tauranga, making it more crowded and expensive, like Auckland. Next time we will take the toll road, which is longer but a better road--not the winding and very narrow Hwy 36--and we will be able to see the coast.
As we approached civilization and Tauranga, I caught a picture of an Araucaria tree, a relative of Chile's national tree.
Elder Rooks noticed that the trees and shrubs and flowers here are less stressed and better cared for. The temperatures are more balmy than in Rotorua, and the residents better off.
At our Zone Conference, we had several hours of wonderful instruction, including a breakout session with Sis. Fee Niokia, wife of Jeffrey Nikoia, our mission president, (she was taking the picture,) several senior sister missionaries, (we serve in Rotorua, Gisborne, Whakatane, and the mission home,) and the young sisters, who are amazing.
Rotorua District sister missionaries, Sis. Lui, Sis. Cleverley, Sis. Pancheri, and Sis. Nonu taking the picture.
The mission elders finishing lunch. I notice there isn't any leftover fry bread, Paraoa Parai.
All of us gathered for a photo in the cold cultural hall. Elder Rooks is sitting next to Pres. Nikoia.
Pretty scenery on the way back to Rotorua
Beautiful clouds. Since it rains so much in New Zealand, the clouds can be spectacular.
On Saturday Sis. Lui and Sis. Pancheri invited us to come with them to visit a contact, a single man, but he was not at home.
We had enough time to walk to the Saturday Market, but the man selling oranges wasn't there. He must have sold them all, sigh. Instead we met this American couple from Washington, and the Maori lady the husband had baptized when he was a young missionary here. We told them about the two-ward activity that night, and they came, to meet old friends.
This lovely Tongan lady was selling greenstone pendants she had made herself, in order to raise money to send her son on a mission. She is known as "Grandma Lolo" in the Hamilton New Zealand Mission, Lolo Olive Fehoko. Greenstone, Pounamu, is the treasured stone that is part of the name of the South Island, Te Wapounamu, Water and Greenstone. There are varying legends attached to how the greenstone came to be. Each piece of Pounamu becomes a family heirloom and is passed to the next generation as a memory of those who came before. The different shapes have significance.
Of course I bought one. This Pounama stone is probably nephrite jade. The other type is translucent bowenite, a type of serpentine. I liked the shape, color, and this was the smallest. I found out later that it is the Adze, the Toki, a tool. It gives the wearer "strength and courage to do, face, and get through and achieve anything in their life." I have been wearing it ever since.
And now the wildlife corner. Here is a bunny that wanders our lane. Really pretty tame, and we don't know who it belongs to, but it doesn't seem underfed.
Eurasian Blackbird, Manu Pango, with the flashing orange beak. These are fast little birds that dart in and out and are almost impossible to take a good picture of, even though they are everywhere.
Not really wildlife either, but for my gardener's cravings I bought a peppermint plant, and Elder Rooks bought a piece of interesting wood with sedum growing on it at the Saturday Market.
Mr. Pukeko has found a puddle of rainwater to drink from.
